[SIC] 250: The Serendipity Machine

Volume 5, Number 42

Ben Dietz

Jun 15, 2023

The [SIC] newsletter on Thursdays is free, and will be forever, unless I change my mind. Unlikely.

But you CAN pay, if you want. I’m into it. Monthly or yearly, or founding support. Paid subscribers get an additional [SIC] Sundays newsletter each week. And founding supporters get invited to a dinner at my home in NYC with special guests.

Meantime, enjoy. And do please pass along to people you like (or people you need to be smarter).

Corollary sources this week (all worth your review, and all easily discoverable): Morning Brew / 1440 / Motive Unknown / Forefront / Marginal Revolution / Politico / Ben’s Bites / After School / Today In Tabs /PSFK/ Axios / Semafor / Future Perfect / Nieman Lab / Beats & Bytes /Brendan’s Communication Miscellany / Recommended Reads / The Future Party

Hi all,

Since this is the 250th edition of [SIC](!!), it felt like an opportunity to do something interesting: my first paid brand integration into the newsletter.

A few weeks back the folks from AIR (a creative ops solution) reached out to share a short film called “The Experiment” they’d made with director Ivan Cash (and which is explained from the company’s inside POV here as ’the craziest SaaS movie of all time - undoubtedly true).

They asked if I’d be down to try it out and offer the [SIC] audience a chance to try Air out, in exchange for some coverage of the company and the product - they explained it as sort of as more intuitive and advanced Dropbox or Google Drive, built by and for creative teams.

They offered to send a special GoodTimes Press-designed Nalgene water bottle to any [SIC] folks who schedule time via this link, even.

I was intrigued. Organizing this digest every week is a labor of love, but it’s a labor - so I’m into any tool that can make that process easier. And “The Experiment” is not the sort of content a boring company would make. I wanted to talk to Ivan about making the film, and his take on working with Air.

So we figured something out, and it was actually really fun; I’m thinking I need to get back to doing “5 questions with” again - or maybe more straight ahead interviews like this. LMK what you think in the comments. Our conversation’s below, edited for length and clarity.

So - thanks to AIR for their paid support of [SIC] (and I can honestly recommend booking a demo with them).

And thanks of course to Celeste, Benji, Ben, Geoff, Leann, Piers, Eli and Amy for contributions this week. There’s tons to absorb, after the interview.

BEN: Ivan, I want to start with you - what’s your background in creative industries - how’d you come to create this short film for Air?

IVAN: Yeah, we got a couple hours or what? (laughs). I grew up without tv. And without video games. [That] ended up playing a really defining role in my life because I felt disconnected from my peers in terms of like pop culture and being able to relate. Working in the creative media space then became the way that I could kind of rectify that pain point from childhood; [it made me] wanna create in all of these spaces. That started with street art and then it was internet art and internet projects. And then it turned to film.

From there I went to Wieden+Kennedy, Amsterdam. I lasted six months there and was just kind of disillusioned with the process…it felt like we were referencing all of these artists and creators that were actually doing things and we were just like putting pitch decks together. It's not a knock against Wieden or Amsterdam, it was more me realizing that I want to be my own boss. The takeaway from you was…I want to be the people that are like being referenced in these presentations. Not the people that are referencing someone else. Originality is a real value of mine.

The creatives in the film are asked for a ‘fun fact’ about themselves; what’s one about you?

[In 2008] I got arrested in New York for selling hand printed t-shirts about the Knicks. I called the newspapers as soon as I got out and got like a … first page article in the New York Daily News with the color photo of me as “the student arrested for selling, [“Fire Isiah”] tees. That was like my first 15 minutes of fame; like being interviewed on ESPN Radio and meeting Walt Clyde Frazier. And anyway, I ended up getting a job in advertising from that. So I don't, I don't have a background in advertising. I didn't go to art school. But that was my come up.

I wanted to get into the film itself. Obviously there's a great deal of care put into the set, the room, the interview space, the chamber. I paused and was struck by the books on the shelves in that first shot: Shoe Dog and The Innovator's Dilemma, and We Would've Played for Nothing. Talk about that a little bit. Like tell me how you picked those.

We scouted very thoroughly across many offices around New York for weeks to find the right spot .. [but those were] purely just books at this venture capital office that when we were getting B-roll. I was like, 'maybe this will be a moment: just film over here.' I wish I could be like, 'this was very strategic.'

The Creatives themselves are archetypes, obviously; we they drawn from your experience, or moreso from wider perception of the capital ‘C’ creative industry? And which was your favorite to write and direct?

Well, firstly, I co-wrote that film with two really talented creative directors, Matt Kalish and Julienne Jones. The three of us made a list of all of the archetypes of creative directors we'd worked with. So it all started from a place of truth. And that list was probably 15 people deep. And from there we started to combine attributes and, you know, fictionalize it. So there wasn't like a knock against any one person.

Sven to me is my favorite, and he ends up being the, the biggest character. I had a Swedish creative director at a freelance stint who was so pretentious and kind of like, full of himself. And it was kind of hilarious but infuriating to be like underneath that person. Right?

I wanted to let the record show that it was written by creative directors for creative directors. And so, we also wanted to parody ourselves … Matt will do like a, a double or triple rolled up beanie. And we were like, that's ridiculous. So we're gonna have [the character] Luk really dial it up on from a fashion perspective. There definitely needed to be some healthy self-reflection and self-criticism.

One thing that struck me in the 3 minute version is how the creatives refuse to stop pitching, even when they know they’re in trouble. Talk to me about that; why can't they stop themselves?

The thesis of the film was that we're going after the pride in the ego that can so often come with positions of power in the creative industry … their pride and their ego and their desire for recognition and to be the smartest person in the room always is actually keeping them there.

In the longer form we even kept a line with the interviewer who says, “Do you wanna leave?” And they're like, “No, like, stay with the interview.” We had a number of takes we didn't use where it's like, “Well, this is gonna premiere at Cannes. Right? Like, okay, we stay.” And yeah, I think that's, that's like the tension point is they could just get out, but they, they really want the limelight.

Air as a service is about making creative work easier to manage; I aspire to that, given the effort I spend parsing info for this newsletter, and the anxiety of being overwhelmed by disorganization. You not only made this campaign for Air, you used Air as the place to share, take feedback, and review that campaign. How did the Air itself help your creative process?

Here’s what I'll say: I never got any official training for it. I was able to open it up [and] I was able to immediately use it without hesitation or pause. And everyone on our team was able to share information, photos, videos, music references, freely. So it was our little home for the project. It was super seamless, super easy to work with, very intuitive. We were able to work with air all the way from pre-pro to post. So like when we were location scouting, we were able to take photos and videos and just, you know, up upload them, share them out.

I paid my dues as like a junior designer… the most junior person in the creative department should have just as much of a vote. [That’s] more egalitarian and kind of subversive. And probably reflective of the way the thing is actually gonna be used and be most productive for everybody, right? I'm thinking of my line of business and all the different cutdowns and deliverables. That's usually a junior creative or a junior producer who's actually responsible for organizing and outputting all that. So I like the idea of of them having a disproportionate amount of power.

Last question, Ivan. I appreciate you taking the time to do this. What’s next for Cash Studios?

The vision for the company is to do art and culture that [is] both in service of commercial work cuz that helps create an ecosystem, of course, and transcends it. Right now we have a feature documentary in production that's executive produced by Mandy Patinkin, a TV show in development Executive Produced by Shepherd Fairey.

We also invented this product called IRL Glasses. I's screen blocking glasses. It's in the Victoria Albert Museum in London with Google Glass and Snapchat spectacles. We're doing a 2.0 version right now with the University of Rochester. So, I think if you need like a sentence to summarize that all, you could just say like … a lot of interesting projects at the convergence of, um, culture and commercial work and art and media.

Or said differently, behaving in all the ways a modern creative company does, or would, or should. That's cool. Is there a part two of the Air project?

We’ve, we've been talking about it. Stay tuned.

======[SIC] 250: The Serendipity Machine ======

Detail of an unnamed Joseph Hart drawing at his HMGP show.

Zeitgest / Gestalt

Lookism on the rampage / WSJ
Physicians are finding ChatGPT useful in empathizing with patients / NYT
Because?! Like doctors,repeating 25 jokes over and over / Ars Technica
Speaking of doctors: what are we doing about the Exercise Problem?/ Lindy Newsletter
Lindy adjacent: To Truly Understand the Past, Pick Up an Old Magazine. The old days: stranger than you remember / NYT Mag
NYC’s food delivery workers: first in the country to get a minimum wage / Quartz
Which is good because takeout alcohol proves to be a hit with Gen Z and millennials / Tasting Table
Tuesday is the new Friday. Restaurant owners across NYC are seeing a “seismic shift” as it moves from sleepy date night to full-on party mode / NYPost
How much social interaction do you actually need? / Vox
From Celeste Blewitt: The outrage, the wealth, the luxury. Great read of changing times, the place of the wealthy... Reminds me of the Mornington Peninsula just an hour from Melbourne... 'The Battle For Nantucket' / Town & Country
Power-hungry hedonists? Survey reveals what drives generation Z / The Guardian
Gen Z is incredibly ambitious. They’re just not interested in climbing your corporate ladder/ Fortune
Hence? First It Was Quiet Quitting, Now Workers Are Facing Off With Their Bosses / WSJ
A.R.E. skills matter more than ever / Seth Godin
And don’t forget A.R.E. Weapons / Spotify
It's a hot job market for teens this summer / Axios
Millennial and Gen Z economic malaise is creating a ‘treat culture’ as they turn to tiny purchases for a dose of daily escapism / Fortune
Successioncore is filling closets. Wearers of taupe suits and cashmere sweaters are all about that soft power / WSJ
And yet Barbiecore is here to stay / Jing Daily
Hence? The Gamification of Fitness Is Booming / Well + Good
Instagram is apparently testing an AI chatbot that lets you choose from 30 personalities / The Verge
Tipping onslaught pushes some to close their wallets / Axios
Conversely? Is the death of thrifting upon us?? / Blackbird Spyplane
As if in reply: “We need to make sure that products can be passed down to the next generation" says Uniqlo's UK head / Dezeen
Revenge Spending Helped Push Prices Higher. The Trend Is Turning / NYT
So “Why did I fake my way into Cambridge? I f***ing love poshness” / Telegraph
But now?! ‘Can I just … rest?’: guilt, the four-day working week and what to do with the fifth day / The Guardian
In response? “Bed rotting” which is exactly what it sounds like: getting into bed and “rotting” for hours or days as a form of mental and physical self-care / TikTok

World Order

The P.G.A. Tour-LIV Merger Goes Beyond Golf / The New Yorker
From Geoff Renaud: Kind of cool The Time for International Space Traffic Management Is Now / Rand
This is what actually happens to the most common things you throw away / Quartz
IE: England’s coastal waters are full of drugs. And prescription and recreational substances in wastewater are biologically changing fish / The Guardian
Nonetheless: Arizona, Low on Water, Weighs Taking It From the Sea. In Mexico. A $5 billion plan to desalinate seawater in Mexico and pipe it to Phoenix is testing the notion that desert cities can keep growing as the Earth warms / NYT
Can Art Change Attitudes Toward Climate Change? Viewing climate data in the form of an artwork made viewers less likely to lean on their preconceived notions / Hyperallergic
To that end: Fondazione Prada Probes Into the Climate Emergency in Latest Research Exhibition / Hypebeast
Good Luck Media is a new journalism studio dedicated to climate change / Good Luck Media
The Portland Art of Feel-Good Densification / Reasons to be Cheerful
Related: What Do Austin, Nashville and … Philadelphia Have in Common? They’re all standouts, adding jobs at a much faster pace than the rest of their states / Bloomberg
While Detroit is a portrait of a resilient city / FT Podcast

The Speculative Future

Silicon Valley argues whether it’s the tech or the hype that’s out of control/ NYT
Taking no changes, Israel’s military is pivoting to AI/ Reuters
While The EU’s AI Act is an attempt to take control of AI…before it can take over us/ WSJ
Two writers make the pitch that ChatGPT can jumpstart creativity / Wired
From Leann Abad: Is this the first person in the music industry who’s made an AI clone of themselves? / Twitter
While Paul McCartney says an AI-assisted “final Beatles record” is coming / WSJ
Think of the children! No One Knows Exactly What Social Media Is Doing to Teens / The Atlantic
Related: Generation A-I: How will AI impact the youngest among us? / Wunderman Thompson
Well for one thing, In 2030, You Won’t Own Any Gadgets / Gizmodo

Pop Cultures

[SIC] homie Patrick O’Dell on His New Book and The Future of Epicly Later’d / Jenkem
From Piers Fawkes: ’80s wrestling icon Iron Sheik became a Twitter sensation/ FastCo
How Drake’s Cornered the Market on Ultra-Premium Prep / GQ
Related: The Origin of the Odd Jacket / J.Press
Ergo: The origin story. The importance of material history in brand building / The Sociology of Business
Barrie, a historic Scottish knitwear brand, has collaborated with Sofia Coppola to create a travel wardrobe inspired by Coppola's personal style / Wallpaper
All killer, no filler: menswear star Martine Rose is ready for growth / Vogue Business
Ben Kingsley as Salvador Dalí Is Worth the Price of Admission / The New Statesman
Cindy Sherman on AI experiments, lockdown pottery and being a woman in today's art market / The Art Newspaper
[SIC] homie Michelle Lhooq goes Raving with Ty Dolla $ign / Rave New World
The first official Banksy show in 10+ years will be open all night at weekends—unless you ‘show up appearing to be very intoxicated’ / The Art Newspaper
Pilvi Takala and the Art of Awkwardness. The Finnish artist is quietly taking notes as the people around her lose their shit / The New Yorker
Also awkward: the rollerblading hacker movie that made me move to nyc (Tyler McCauley talking there, not me, to be clear) / The Unskippables
Hyper niche meme accounts are emerging as the winners of Instagram / Decode
Hence: Barbie Oppenheimer poster mashups / Creative Blow
A new wave of sex comedies are coming to theaters this summer, revitalizing a faded genre / NYT
Meanwhile, Danny McBride Keeps It Righteous / NYT
And No Hip-Hop Album or Song Has Hit No. 1 in 2023, a First in 30 Years / Complex
David Byrne: The 60 Minutes Interview / 60 Minutes
Leads right into This must be the playlist. God, I’m a sucker for puns. And Naive Melodies / Spotify
Pat Sajak is retiring from “Wheel of Fortune” / NYT
The A-to-Z of Online Aesthetics: A Comprehensive Glossary / Glamour
From Eli Williams: we just launched a new study with with USC Annenberg School of Comms, exploring Gen Z's media diets, and thought you might find it interesting / Day One Agency
Mr. Beast: His headline-grabbing giveaways made him the Willy Wonka of YouTube. Why do people think he’s evil? / NYT
Verification is the root of all sneakers / The Kicks You Wear
The Kid MERO went on Throwing Fits and revealed his future in politics/ Spotify
The B-Boys and B-Girls of Brooklyn Go for Olympic Gold / The New Yorker
The Fierce, Flourishing World of Battle Rap / NYT

Media Happenings

A. G. Sulzberger on the Battles Within and Against the New York Times / The New Yorker
The Washington Post’s Publisher Steps Down as Bezos get more hands-on / Vanity Fair
While secret weapon info source Morning Consult cut its newsroom and laid off seven staffers / Biz Journal
It’s all part of record cuts across the media landscape / Axios
Ergo: The decline of “free” news / NYT
But wait. Paywalls aren’t actually blocking access to high-quality news/ Simon Owens
Related, from Iolanda Carvalho: This year's report reveals new insights about digital news consumption based on a YouGov survey of 93,000+ online news consumers in 46 markets covering half of the world's population." / Reuters Institute
Elsewhere, CNN broke news during Trump’s arraignment thanks to local high school students and a pay phone / CNN
Is Rupert Murdoch About To Make a Play for The Telegraph and Spectator? / New York Sun
Why short-form creators are prioritizing podcasts—and how brands are following them / Ad Age
Gimlet Media’s Story Was Always Going To End Like This / Defector
While Refinery29 launches Twitch's first third-party live shopping experience / Digiday
Livestream shopping booms as small businesses strike gold on social media / CNBC
Gen Z is buying and searching on TikTok, but its commerce offering isn’t a must-have for advertisers, report says / Marketing Brew
Hence? TikTok Shop is testing visual search / AdWeek
Meanwhile, Netflix takes a swing at live sports / Future Party
And, from Ben Pruess: Netflix plans pop-up restaurant in LA / Hollywood Reporter
Reddit CEO Tells Employees To Ignore Blowback / The Information
Why Reddit’s recent blackout could be a real problem for advertisers / Digiday

Market-ations

From Amy Madonia: “My latest article on Future Commerce about subscription businesses and shiny ball syndrome” / Future Commerce
From Iolanda Carvalho: Ranked: The Most Innovative Companies in 2023 / Visual Capitalist
Also ranked: the phrases you should banish from your work vocabulary / Charter
What happens when you let AI write your Father’s Day ad / The Drum
Speaking of Father’s Day: how about this “Yacht Club” watch for Dad? No, I’m serious. After everything I do for this family?! / Grand Central Watch
Setting that aside: There’s going to be more brand entertainment than ever. These guys want to make it actually good / Fast Company
How fashion is showing up for a pivotal Pride Month / Vogue Business
Related to that: Personal attacks are a new risk for brand leaders / AdAge
Corollary: Modelo Especial replaced Bud Light as the No. 1 selling beer in the US / Today
Maybe time for BL to take Andrew Courtien’s advice? / Linkedin
How Brands Can Sell to Environmentally Conscious Nonconsumers / HBR
Speaking of exhausted: the fashion industry shrugs at the "circular economy" / Axios
Tho brands wake up to the destructive impact of leather production / Vogue Business
Why crypto company OKX is sponsoring the Tribeca Film Festival / Digiday
Ingredients of a Metaverse. The a16z crypto team published a report highlighting what they believe to be the seven ingredients of the metaverse / Twitter
From Piers Fawkes: Who needs the Metaverse? Meet the people still living on Second Life / Guardian
Related: Onchain Hypercultures: The Context-Fermentation Window. IE: “onchain” as the next iteration of the internet, offering a chance to turn cultural diversities into a more fruitful world / Mirror
Corollary to that: 43 Fortnite islands are on course for $1m+ annual revenues / Music Ally
Back in the ‘real’ world, from Ben Pruess: the ‘Ultimate Lawn Mowing Shoes’ / Footwear News
Apropos of that: Stan Smiths Gets Molded Into Bathtubby Platform Mules / Hypebeast
While These Sneaker-Inspired Bathtubs Were Created Using AI / Hypebeast
Elsewhere in self-care: Nike goes holistic fitness with ‘Well Collective’ / Retail Dive
Puma is decamping Boston for its Herzogenaurach home / Retail Dive
And the Messi signing makes David Beckham’s Inter Miami a blockbuster/ The Drum
Related; The Digital MVP: Carmelo Anthony's Generative Content Plan / New Game Labs
While Antoine Arnault is negotiating an Olympic sponsorship deal for LVMH / BoF
But if a partnership happens, it might not involve some of the brands in the French luxury goods company’s portfolio / Quartz

Superficial Interest

Sleep is more challenging for women than for men / NYT
How shoddy data becomes sensational research / Chronicle of Higher Education
Scientists in Israel invented a “chemical camouflage” they say will stop 99% of mosquitos from biting you / Euronews

Food / Drink

The pineapple's forgotten role as elite status symbol / Eater
Dan Barber says good food starts with seeds / FT Pod
Instant Pot’s parent company Instant Brands, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy / WSJ
The Instant Pot Failed Because It Was a Good Product / Atlantic
Food delivery apps are getting lost in transit / FT
Also getting lost: If You Post a Delicious Bagel Sandwich on the Internet, Do You Have to Say Where You Got It? / GQ
White Castle, McDonald's, Wendy's and Dunkin' are all testing AI-driven chatbots at the drive-through / WSJ
Kenya’s tea pickers are destroying the machines replacing them / Semafor

Useful Diversions

Do:

From Piers Fawkes: Nicer Tuesdays NYC debut June 27th featuring Emily Oberman, Eric Hu and Shawna X / It’s Nice That
30 Art Shows to See in New York This Summer / Hyperallergic
This weekend: The Deep Water Literary Festival in Narrowsburg NY / One Grand Book
June 26: Nahmad Gallery’s “Ugly Paintings” show June 26th / Twitter

More Joseph Hart drawing(s)